300 people join call for freeze in energy prices

MORE than 300 people in Chester have signed a petition calling on the government to freeze energy bills.

On Saturday, three local MPs and Labour’s prospective Parliamentary candidate for Chester, Chris Matheson, led a team of volunteers through the city to call on the government to freeze energy bills due to the “cost of living crisis” which Labour say is leaving people £1, 600 per year out of pocket.

Over 300 people from Blacon, the city centre and Hoole signed the petition on Saturday morning with North Wales Labour MPs David Hanson (Delyn), Ian Lucas (Wrexham) and Mark Tami (Alyn and Deeside) all supporting the campaign in Chester.

Mr Matheson said: “What this petition shows is that people from across the city are feeling the effects of the cost of living crisis.

“Residents are being forced to make impossible choices and are paying for a problem they didn’t cause.”

Shadow government minister Mr Hanson added: “People in Chester are facing a real squeeze on their incomes though rising prices, energy costs and an economy without real growth.

“We came to Chester today as Chester’s Tory MP is supporting policies that are impacting not just in Chester but in our constituencies in North Wales – there was a great response for a change in direction."

But MP for the City of Chester, Stephen Mosley, rejected Labour’s claims and blamed Labour for leaving behind a recession for the Coalition government to deal with.

He said: “The cost of Labour’s recession is still being felt in Chester and the debt left behind by Labour will blight the country for decades.

“As well as steering our country back to economic growth, the current Government has delivered the biggest income tax cut in a generation.

“We’ve boosted pensions to help those who have spent a lifetime working and paying tax, and we’ve frozen petrol duty, making each litre of petrol 20 pence cheaper than the Labour Party wanted it.

“For people who work hard to provide for themselves and their families, this is extra pounds and pence in their pockets.

“While the Labour Party is trying to run away from the misery caused by their disastrous economic record, I will keep working to deliver the policies that really help Chester’s hard-working people.”